So I’ve been in a fog of denial lately. But when October arrived, it hit me.
Time to face it, chalk up how very much I’ve missed, and move on.
I missed the last day of school pictures for last year. I missed the first day of school pictures for this year. But that’s just the way I suppose it’s going to go for now.
Because homeschooling nine kids is no joke.
Yep, that’s right. Now all my school-aged kiddos are officially schooling at home. We had planned to maybe wait a year or so to bring Jude and Shepherd home to school with the other kids, but by mid-summer we knew, it was time to bring them home.
And it’s been a some kinda crazy since then.
We actually started our school year in late July, just because I knew we were going to need those extra weeks in our back pocket for the crazy. And so far, for the most part, so good. My expectations were extremely low and I’m happy to report the reality has exceeded those expectations. Yippee.
So, to celebrate the beginning of our new year (although these weren’t taken at the end of last school year, nor at the beginning of this school year) I’m considering these our back to school pictures.
And this our official back to school post.
And an update on how crazy big they’ve gotten. I did this two years ago, and the year before that. I had every intention of doing this last year, but we were slightly distracted with bringing home Miss Clementine.
Asher is now in the 10th grade. He is 6’1″ and 209 pounds. He’s grown 3 inches in the last two years and is now even taller than his daddy. As much as he’d like to be 6’5″, I think he’s pretty okay being the tallest person in the house.
His favorite subject is math and his least favorite is science. When I asked him about this school year he said, “I like it better than last year because I’ve learned how to manage my time better. And Clementine, she makes everything more fun.” When he’s not doing schoolwork or reading math books, he loves to listen to old rock and research elements. For real.
Dalton is in the 8th grade. He is 5’7 1/2″ and 150 pounds, up 8 1/2 inches and 45 pounds (what?) in the last two years… and is officially taller than his mama. He’s extremely happy about that. It’s pretty much all cake from here.
His favorite subject is biology and his least favorite is grammar. When I asked him about school this year he said, “It’s better than it was last year because there are more people homeschooling and it’s more organized.” (Pfft. Like I’ve ever been anything but organized.) In his free time he loves to watch TV, ride bikes and teach the littles how to play football.
Sophie is in the 6th grade. She is 54 1/2″ and 67 pounds, up 4 1/2″ and 8 pounds in the last two years.
Her favorite school subject is science and she loves to read Judy Blume. When I asked her about this school year she said, “I like that I’m in middle school now because I like to challenge myself. But not too hard.” In her free time she loves ride bikes (“down the big hill because you get to go fast”) and manage everything she can. Girl’s gonna be a boss someday and for now I’m letting her boss (almost) all she wants because she remembers everything I forget.
Isabelle is in the 5th grade. She is 54″ and 85 pounds, up 5″ and 26 pounds in the last two years. After struggling with falling asleep (and staying asleep) at night, she decided to try to go off her ADHD meds in May. She’s doing really well and, although some things are harder for her, she doesn’t want to go back on medication again. We are so proud of her and her determined spirit.
Her favorite subject is zoology and history. “I thought I wasn’t going to like zoology because it has bugs in it and I hate bugs. But it talks about birds and all sorts of things I didn’t know… like only female mosquitos can suck blood out and also males suck nectar. I love homeschooling because it’s less complicated and I don’t have to take music, my worst subject, because one time they made me do a square dance and I couldn’t remember how to it, which was embarrassing.”
Jude is in the 4th grade. He is now 50″ and 53 pounds, up 4″ and 8 pounds in two years.
His favorite school subject is math and his least favorite is history. In his free time he loves to organize things (thank you, Lord) and ride bikes. When asked what he thinks about homeschooling he replied, “It’s pretty good. Better because I can get up later and get my school work done faster. And I don’t have to ride the bus.”
Shepherd is in the 3rd grade. He is 48 1/2″ and 46 pounds, up 4 1/2″ and 5 pounds in two years.
His favorite school subject is science and his least favorite is handwriting. In his free time he loves to read books in the 39 Clues Series. When I asked him what he thinks about homeschooling he replied, “It’s a great way for me to learn and I don’t have a lot of distractions. I’m glad I don’t have to walk down the driveway to the bus and that I get to stay with my family. But I miss my friends from school and my 2nd grade teacher.”
Vivienne is in the 2nd grade. She is 45 1/2″ and 56.5 pounds, up 4 1/2″ and 13.5 pounds in two years.
Her favorite subject is Explode the Code and math. Her least favorite is Language Smarts. In her free time she likes to catch “toad frogs” and “light bugs” When asked about homeschool she said, “I’d like to go to regular school because it seems fun, but I wouldn’t want to go to school all day because I want to play here.”
Poppy is in the 1st grade. She is 43 1/2″ and 35 pounds, up 5″ and 5 (hard fought) pounds in two years.
“I like to do my math and my Explode the Code. I like to read Gerald and Piggy books because they make me laugh, and they’re funny. And I like to read some different books, too.” In her free time she likes to play with Clementine, ride bikes and read out loud.
Tallula is in kindergarten. She is 42″ and 38 1/2 pounds, up 5″ and 6 1/2 pounds in two years.
“I like to do the fish homeschool (Mathematical Reasoning) because it’s fun to do the number line and dot-to-dot.” In her free time she loves to draw pictures of herself in princess dresses, read Bob Books and play tangrams.
Clementine is 33″ and 24 pounds. Which is up 3 1/2″ and 6 1/2 pounds in 10 months.
She love just about everything right now, especially watching Signing Time, reading “That’s Not My…” Usborne books and riding her bike around the house. She has about 45 signs now and is learning to feed herself and drink out of a cup.
And there you have it. Life is full right now. Really, really full.
But of really good things.